


It's In the Works

by kuronemi



Category: Haikyuu!!
Genre: M/M, Pre-Slash
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-12-25
Updated: 2015-12-25
Packaged: 2018-05-04 17:30:05
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 6,890
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5342468
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/kuronemi/pseuds/kuronemi
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Kyoutani didn’t think that walking the dog after a storm could end with something so disastrous.  Yahaba had no idea what was in store for him when he went out for a jog on the very same day.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Everything's A Mess

**Author's Note:**

  * For [puppykihyun](https://archiveofourown.org/users/puppykihyun/gifts).



> To Kai, I deviated a bit from your cute as hell prompt, sorry! I hope you like it! I had fun writing this! Sorry it’s so short. :D
> 
> That being said...To everyone else, please enjoy it as well!

The day started unlike the norm.  It was wet, cold and overall exasperating for Kyoutani.

Thanks to the short bouts of rain all morning, he had been stuck indoors on an otherwise sunny Saturday with an overexcited dog that hadn’t had her fill of daily exercise.  The dog was restless at home and Kyoutani was no different.  Getting bowled over every few minutes by a huge dog tended to do just that.

That was then.  Near noon, the rain had stopped.  Despite grey skies that promised more bad news, he donned on a tracksuit, got his dog on a leash and sped out of the house.  He figured nothing would come out of it; to his knowledge, the Miyagi region didn’t get much rainfall this time of the year.  Today was just one of those freak days where the weather made no sense.

Kyoutani jogged at a set pace, the dog leading.  The cool November air was liberating for the both of them.  Soon enough, his dog, a pretty German shepherd-collie mix, jumped into every puddle she could find, dirtying her tan coat.  When she decided that she didn’t appreciate Kyoutani’s sense of urgency, she bounded up behind him and started herding him toward their destination.  Kyoutani almost tripped over his own legs because of it.

The grip on the leash tightened.  She was usually quite disciplined, but for some reason unknown to Kyoutani, she never seemed to behave well around him as much as she did around others.  Enough was enough.

“Slow down! You’re getting water all over the place!” he scolded, grimacing from how wet his trousers were becoming.  The dog obeyed, but her tail continued to wag earnestly like it didn’t matter if her master was mad at her.

His dog was a smart one, Kyoutani would admit that any day.  She knew when it’s playtime and when she’s in trouble.  At times like these, she’d do _the thing_ ; something Kyoutani knew that she knew he was weak for – she tilted her head upwards to look him in the eyes.  Small whines for double the effectiveness.   _God._  He did the same, minus the cuteness and whines.

He tried to be stern, he really did, but it never worked for long.  He always ended up spoiling the dog.  Maybe that’s why she knew that she can get away with a lot of stuff when it comes to Kyoutani.  In the end, he clicked his tongue in annoyance.  There was no way he could possibly fault the dog.

The blame lied in the damn rain.  The rain was the cause of his wet pants.  Seemed logical enough.

As they got nearer to the park, the dog’s excitement was near maximum level.  Tired of having his wrist be a victim, Kyoutani finally reached down and released the leash, freeing her.  The giant dog barked twice then took off.

Why not? It won’t do much harm anyway since the park was devoid of people, especially after the storm.

A series of happy barks and a high-pitched scream less than 15 seconds later proved Kyoutani oh-so-very-wrong.  He couldn’t reach the crime scene in time.  Kyoutani could only wince as he watched his pet bulldoze a fellow jogger into a muddy puddle without mercy.

“Mimo, stop!”  He ran over to the unfortunate person, who he noted the instant he was near enough, was wearing none other than his school’s volleyball team jersey.

 _Crap._ It was someone he knew.  This day just keeps getting better and better.

A sharp whistle from him and the dog was back to his side instead of using the jogger’s body as a welcome mat.  Or, judging from how the person was gasping for breath, a trampoline…

Without paying more than a quick glance at his fallen teammate, he hurried on attaching the leash again, back turned against the jogger as he did so.  He didn’t help them up, so sure that they would understand his preoccupation lest they wanted to be trampled on again.  As he fumbled with his task, the inevitable scorn came his way.

“Not even a sorry?”

The voice was strained from the coughs beforehand.  There were some splashing noises as the person stood up.

Kyoutani froze.  He knew that voice.  Recognized it so well.  A whiplash of his head confirmed his suspicions.

Yahaba hadn’t seemed to have noticed him yet.  The boy was too busy wiping the mud off his face with the white and aqua (and now dirty brown) sleeves of his jersey.  He did a poor job at it.  All the wiping just spread the stubborn mud all the more on his face, did nothing to reduce the amount of dirt.  If any, it only added to the problem.

Kyoutani remained silent, just stared in disbelief.  Never in his time of knowing Yahaba had he seen the other looking so dishevelled.  It destroyed the clean-cut first impression of him that Kyoutani always had of Yahaba.

The only sounds between them were of his dog yipping as she ran around him in circles, effectively trapping him within the confines of her long leash.  He cursed when the leash wound tighter.

“Well?” Yahaba gave up on wiping his face in favour of looking at the offender in the eye.  He, too, halted when he realised who he was talking to.  He made a face like he had eaten a lemon.  “You.”

“Yahaba,” greeted Kyoutani, out of anything else to say.

Any other day, onlookers would assume that they were sizing up each other for a fight, judging from the intensity of their glares.  Instead, the situation could only be seen as comical: Yahaba appearing as if he had just come out of a tropical rainforest and Kyoutani, now snug within a leash burrito.

Kyoutani broke eye contact first, muttering an apology under his breath.  The last thing he wanted was an argument with Yahaba of all people.  He had better things to do – mainly, his immediate release from leash prison.  Yahaba wasn’t so eager to come to his aid.  It was only fair, Kyoutani thought, since he hadn’t helped the other up earlier.

As he was struggling to free himself, from the corner of his eyes, Kyoutani saw Yahaba started to leave.  Under normal circumstances, sure, he would’ve let him walk away.  They weren’t on the best of terms with each other and at most, mere acquaintances with the same goals.  This situation, however, was beyond ordinary.

On reflex, he thrust out his freed right arm and grabbed hold of the leg of Yahaba’s filthy trousers.  He didn’t think his actions through and fell flat on his face with a pained groan.  He tightened his grip before Yahaba could pull away.

Another attempt at an apology.  Somewhat.  “Wait.  My house.  Now.”

With him kissing the paved trail, Kyoutani couldn’t see Yahaba's face from his angle.  He imagined Yahaba would have quite the interesting expression, though.  After all, he must’ve been a sight to behold – lying on the ground, tied in circles of leash and with a dog on his back, fussing over her fallen master.

“Really?”  Yahaba questioned, tone incredulous.  After a sigh, he said, “Look.  Appreciate the effort and all, but I’ll just…” Vague hand gestures probably.  Kyoutani couldn’t see.  “…Head on home.”

“You’ll get sick.”

Yahaba was having none of his genial hospitality.  “I’ll chance it.”

Now, Kyoutani was not renowned for his patience.  He had held on to the minuscule amount he had, only and only, because of what Yahaba had said two weeks ago during the Spring High qualifying match.  There’s hardly anyone with much courage to sound him off when needed, so he came to respect Yahaba for kicking his ass back in line that day. In an actual effort to “make peace”, so to speak, he had tried to get along better with his teammates. Yahaba included.  

But right now, the amount of frustration exceeded his patience by a mile.  He snapped.

His other arm managed to free itself and joined in on his grasp on Yahaba’s trousers.  Grip turned to pull.

“What the fuck! I was trying to be nice!”

“I don’t want your nice! I want to be clean! Dry!” Yahaba tugged at his pants fast before Kyoutani could pull it clean off and left him for public scrutiny in his soggy, gross boxers.

“And I’m saying; let me take you to my house! It’s pretty near! Don’t be a dumbass!”

Yahaba took offense.  “Take me to your house? What am I, an abandoned kitten?!”

“Well, your shitty ass looks like one!”

“Haaaaaaaaaaaah?!”

They fought, both not willing to yield to the other.  Profanities and kicks were slung around without restraint.  Kyoutani managed to cling to Yahaba's leg and Yahaba could only do so much to hold up his pants.  It was a disaster and Kyoutani’s dog, for whatever dog reasons he could ever guess, felt that she, too, needed to join in.  Animated barks were added to the mix.  Maybe the few people that were in the vicinity were watching them scuffle but they wouldn’t give a second worth of damn.  The only thing that matters was that they had to have their own way.

So did the mutt.

For the second time that afternoon, Yahaba had the special privilege to be tackled down by the dog.

And as a consequence of Kyoutani holding on to the setter’s trousers while he went down like timber, the article of clothing got pulled straight down to the ankles.  As if to mock their childish fight, Mother Nature sent rain pouring there and then, drenching them all to the sounds of rumbling thunder.

_Fucking freak days._

Silence reigned supreme.

It was broken by Yahaba, amidst of getting a thorough licking from the dog.  He sounded defeated.  Kyoutani couldn’t blame him for that.

“What exactly are we even doing?”

To which Kyoutani answered, sounding equally fed up, “Being dumb as balls.”

“So…My house?” Kyoutani tried again.

“Fuck no.”


	2. Who the Fuck are You?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Yahaba making headcanons about Kyoutani is something you guys need. Also, he is a silly duck. You can’t say otherwise. He once tried to throw a volleyball in Yachi’s way to get her attention ffs.

It had been an eventful day, one in which Yahaba would like to forget, effective immediately.

Now snug, warm and free of any specks of mud on his person, Yahaba sipped on his hot chocolate.  Once satisfied, he placed his enormous mug on a messy desk next to the bed he was sitting on.  He then grabbed a nearby grey blanket and enveloped himself entirely with it, save for his face.  It was an old habit; one that comes with an unfortunate effect of him resembling an egg.  A soft fragrance of fabric softener wafted from it.  It was nice and comfortable.

Everything made perfect sense following the events a few hours ago.  What baffled him was why he was in clothes that were a bit too baggy on him and waiting for the owner of the room to come back from the kitchen.

No, he knew why.

It was the dog; the source of all his troubles today.  It was the dog that had pushed him down twice and got him into this mess.  It was for that gigantic, fluffy and adorable bulk of beautiful brown fur’s sake that he had finally agreed to follow Kyoutani back to his house so that it won’t get sick.

Never mind that he was dragged, heels digging into the ground and cursing to hell and back, by Kyoutani in the process.

And no, he had not fallen in love with the dog within the short span of time.

During his silent fuming, suddenly, the door that was only opened a crack, swung inwards with a loud bang.  Startled, Yahaba steeled himself for another round of passive-a-bit-more-aggressive complaints towards Kyoutani.  He had prepared a few lines that he would like to throw to that perpetual scowling face.  Let the delinquent know just how much Yahaba hated his guts right now.  He was displeased and he’d like Kyoutani to suffer his wrath.

But the first syllable never left his mouth.  In the time it took Yahaba to fully comprehend who the newcomer was, a mass of hyperactive dog knocked him down.  Again.

Being bundled tight in a blanket had rendered the brunet at the complete mercy of the dog.  Only this time, instead of screams of horror, his laughter rang out.  It was seconds later that the licking stopped and while Yahaba struggled to get his arms free from the blanket, it gave him a look that stole his heart.

There was no way he was blaming the dog.  Not with all the slobber on his face.  That was pure love right there.  How many people in the world were lucky enough to get this much affection from someone else’s dog?

So Kyoutani became the scapegoat.  It was all Kyoutani’s fault. If he wasn’t at the park, all this wouldn’t have happened in the first place. That sounded perfectly reasonable.

“What the hell is going on here?”

Speak of the devil.

The dog bounced off of him and Yahaba tried his best to sit back up.  He wiped the saliva with one part of Kyoutani’s blanket (ignoring the angry protests in the background) and threw it on the floor.  The dog pounced on and laid on it.

Kyoutani frowned.  He placed the muffins he had reheated earlier next to Yahaba’s mug, alongside his own share of the beverage.  “I just had that washed.”

Yahaba shrugged in response, not at all apologetic, as Kyoutani took his place next to him.  He shifted away to make room in the single bed, which hadn’t enough space to begin with.  The bed had 7 pillows on it – 2 standard size and 5 small ones.  There was also a threadbare stuffed penguin hidden between the wall and pillows.  Yahaba had to resort to biting his bottom lip to prevent from laughing when he found that.  Couple that with a polka-dotted bed sheet... It was all he could do to stop himself from commenting on Kyoutani’s sleeping arrangements.   _“Interesting bed you got here.”_

In the end, he chose to poke fun at something else.

“Your pretty dog doesn’t suit your Mad Dog image.”

Not the nicest thing to say to someone who gave you dry clothes and food, but it came out anyway.  With Kyoutani, Yahaba had an innate switch somewhere in his psyche that made him able to be more honest, even if the things he said were downright rude.  He didn’t know the reason why the switch was there in the first place.  Didn’t care enough to find out.

Kyoutani crossed his legs, tucking them away from the edge of the bed.  Their knees bumped together.  “What, I’m not allowed to own a pretty dog?”

“I don’t know.  You seem like the type to have one of those muscular dogs,” Yahaba said, “Like a bulldog or something.”

“Are you looking for a fight?”

“No.  I’m just saying, give your dog to me.  Too pretty for you.”  Yahaba stretched out both his hands, wiggling his fingers to gain the dog’s attention.  He smiled when it perked its ears up and came over for pets.  With paws in his lap, he indulged the dog.  Its tail was like a malfunctioned whirligig with how fierce it thumped.

Kyoutani huffed, leaned back against the wall.  “Are you trying to steal my dog from me or are you trying to say that you’re pretty?”

“Both.”

“Shameless bastard,” Kyoutani growled as he motioned for him to pass one of the muffins.  Yahaba handed one that was slightly burnt out of petty spite.  Too bad Kyoutani chomped on it without a single remark.

“I try.”  Yahaba grinned.

Kyoutani gave an amused snort.  “Well, isn’t someone in a good mood today?”

“All thanks to you.”

Kyoutani decided to ignore his sarcasm, opting instead to shift his attention to the muffin he was eating.  Two big bites and half of them were gone.  

That’s perfectly fine with Yahaba.  The less argument they had, the better.  Though, in all honesty, Yahaba thought they’d end up in a more awkward-riddled silence.  They really were _not_ the best of friends.  Bad start.  They had so little in common.  To say that this conversation was a pleasant surprise was not doing enough justice.

It was pretty dumb, but to Yahaba, all he could remember of Kyoutani was cuss words and harsh criticisms from their limited interactions in the past.  Short and concise words that would never fail to rub him the wrong way.

Never would he imagine Kyoutani engaging in snarky banters, least of all with him.  Then again, he never really got the chance to form a better opinion of Kyoutani.  It was only after their loss two weeks ago that Kyoutani had started to come back to practice again. Thankfully, more tolerable than before.

And the bonus? He found out Kyoutani still slept with “Pengi-chan” (it was what he concluded; the cuddle toy didn’t seem too tattered to be a chew toy for the dog).  With every minute passed in this room, Kyoutani looked less like a Mad Dog and more of a Pomeranian.  Unreal.  First impression annihilated.

“What’s his name?” asked Yahaba.  He scratched behind the dog’s ears.  The deed didn’t go unappreciated.

“Her,” Kyoutani corrected, “Mimo’s a girl.”

“You named her Mimo?” Yahaba blinked in confusion.  He shook his head.   _No, that can’t be it.  How dumb could I be?_ “Wait, your mom, right? The one who thought up the name?”

Kyoutani stated that no, it was him.  The family let him name the dog back when she was a puppy.

_Huh._

“That’s…pretty cutesy…”

Yahaba felt weird; dazed for a moment, but all of that was put aside to make way for surprise.  Kyoutani had blushed and refused to meet his eyes, the muffin cup crushed in his big hands.   _Oh, this is new._

“Cute name for a cute dog.  Got a problem with that?!”

“Uh…no.  None.”  That made total sense.  Though admittedly, he had always saw Kyoutani as someone who was terrible at naming things.  He totally had that image! Today proved him wrong.  What were the odds?

They sat in silence for a while.  Mimo had shifted her attention back to her master, so Yahaba, with nothing else to do, studied the bedroom.   He hadn’t paid much attention to it before due to irritation and getting smothered by Mimo.  A bedroom was someone’s personal space.  It was as good as any other method if he wanted to know more about what made Kyoutani tick.  He was invested to know now because time and time again, the Kyoutani beside him didn’t match the Kyoutani in his head.

_Because there’s no way the guy in my head would coo baby talks to a dog._

The room was strangely organized and clean, almost clinical.  The same could not be said about the study desk.  It’s as if a bomb had gone off on it.  Books were in disarray and there were the most random knickknacks on it _(Why is there a rolling pin?)_ ; a stark contrast to the floor that was clean and dust free.  There were no dirty clothes lying about or peeking out of anywhere.  They were all placed accordingly in a white laundry hamper at a corner.  There were also no posters on the walls.  Just many patches of childish crayon scrawl decorating them.

_Were those Kyoutani's doing back when he was a kid?_

Funny.  Yahaba assumed Kyoutani was someone who’d have no control over the mess he’d made in his room.  On the other hand, Yahaba feared he was a freaking slob compared to his teammate.  He had never kept a vacuum cleaner in his room, but Kyoutani did!

_What the hell is this?! What higher entity made Kyoutani a clean freak? This is all very wrong! Ho-ly-shit!_

His eyes darted to every inch of the room, desperate to find something, anything, to corroborate with his theories of what he thought Kyoutani stands for.  What he got instead were blows of facts from reality.  It hit him like a ton of cannonballs.

That was when he considered the messy study table meant that Kyoutani had not used it all that much.  He inferred that it meant Kyoutani was not a studious person at all.  Yahaba gave out an internal sigh, relieved.  At least one thing matched or he’ll sooner throw himself out of the window.

Yahaba must have made a weird face over his small victory because Kyoutani had knocked him down hard with a pillow to the face.

“Augh! What was that for?!”

“You were grinning so creepily! It was gross as hell!”

“Okay, no.  First of all, my charming smile is not creepy.  Second, you treat a guest like a guest.  Do _not_ have a pillow fight without informing them first!” And with only that as a warning, Yahaba seized a pillow near his head.  Soft but compact.  Perfect.  He got up on his butt in record time and beaned Kyoutani squarely on the face.  He looked flabbergasted at that.  Double perfect.

Or not.

Kyoutani took advantage of Yahaba’s loose grip on the pillow after the unexpected retaliation, made it his and pounced forward, successfully pinning down Yahaba’s smaller build.  They wrestled.  Kicking. Punching. Pillows thrown about.  Swear words too.  It was a free-for-all, especially with Mimo trying to join in on the fun.

Yahaba had trouble getting the upper hand as Kyoutani had taken to covering his face with a pillow repeatedly and making it hard for him to breathe.  When he managed to rip away the pillow from Kyoutani’s hands, he flung it away with a triumphant victory yell.

Bad luck for them, the pillow had knocked over the plate of muffins and two mugs full of hot chocolate clean off the table.  There was an ear-shattering smash as the three items broke. They stopped, too stunned for speech.

“Ah, oops.”

That was all that came out of Yahaba’s mouth before Kyoutani’s mother slammed the door open, furious, and told them to knock it the hell off or she’ll ban them both from dinner.  They apologised quick and set to clean up the mess they had made at lightning speed.  Kyoutani shooed Mimo out of the room in case she’d get hurt from the broken shards.

As they cleaned, they got into another argument.  Yahaba insisted that he do all the cleaning since it was his fault they were in this dumb mess.  Kyoutani wouldn’t let him; he even used Yahaba’s own words against him.  Said he should treat a guest like a guest.  Yahaba countered that this was a special case.

The fight ended with Yahaba sulking on Kyoutani’s colourful dotted bed.  With nothing else to do, he pulled at the pills on the sweater he’s wearing.  He hated these.

“So…I’m staying over for dinner, huh?” he questioned.  At that exact time, his stomach growled low, reminding him that he hadn’t had lunch yet.  He glanced at the glass-covered muffins Kyoutani picked off the floor.  They looked home-made.  What a waste.

“Yup,” Kyoutani confirmed.  He placed the pieces of cracked ceramic into a plastic bag, tied it off and threw them in the bin.  “Best in your interest to stay.  Mom wouldn’t take 'no' for an answer.”

“Then I guess I’ll be staying here longer.  Don’t mind me.”

Kyoutani _hmmph_ ed, and then eyed the clock propped up on the wall.  Yahaba did too.  He didn’t realise that it had gotten so late.

“Want to stay overnight? I doubt your clothes are gonna dry in time anyway.”

Yahaba raised an eyebrow at the offer.  Out of all the things he had expected out of his day, a sleepover with Kyoutani was the least thing he thought would happen.  “I’ll ask my mom, but I’m sure she wouldn’t mind.”

“Good.”  Kyoutani nodded, satisfied with what he heard.  He fired up the vacuum cleaner and that was the end of their conversation.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Little did Yahaba knew, the vacuum was only there because Mimo shed a lot. Any shit that was in the way on the floor got dumped on Kyoutani’s desk or thrown in the hamper. The rolling pin was there because Mimo fetched it from the kitchen and Kyoutani couldn’t be assed to bring it back. Kyoutani wasn’t really a clean freak. He just like things out of the way.
> 
> Also, take my doodle of the Yahaba egg. XD


	3. Bonus Snippets

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Yahaba didn't know what natural means. Kyoutani didn't know how to sleep still.

Yahaba’s hands were damp with sweat. Each step he took as he walked back to Kyoutani’s room was filled with dread. It wasn’t that he was nervous from having a sleepover at Kyoutani’s. No. His anxiety stemmed from an entirely different source, and because of it, he didn’t want to see the spiker just yet.

A few moments ago, while he was brushing his teeth in the bathroom down the hallway, a horrifying realisation dawned on him. The effect was instantaneous as he watched, through the mirror, his widening eyes, followed by his face blooming into ten shades of red. His panic was doubled when he somehow managed to knock a bottle of shaving cream off the sink and it skid across the tiled floor noisily.

He wanted to hide out in the bathroom until his face was back to normal, but 20 minutes had elapsed since he went in and there was no way he could hog the place for longer without being suspicious. So, out he went.

He wiped his palms on his pants before pushing the bedroom door open. He wasn’t a religious person, per se, but in that very moment, he prayed hard for Kyoutani to not be in the room. Alas, Lady Luck must have had seen him as a lost cause that day and decided to recline back in her couch with a popcorn in her grasp. Watching him flail as if he was in some B-rated sitcom.

On the bed, flipping through a magazine about god knows what, was Kyoutani. He didn’t look up when Yahaba peered tentatively into the room. …Good.

_Okay, Shigeru, just act normal…Calm down…_

Because that’s what people usually do when they don’t want any unwanted attention.

He closed the door behind him. _Natural! Good job, Shigeru!_

Then, he walked inside. And utterly failed.

Two pathetic steps in, his embarrassment seized him once again and in no time at all, his eyes scanned the small room for a place to hide his face. There were none. He felt claustrophobic. But he couldn’t just stand there, frozen like a deer in headlights. That would invite questions from Kyoutani. Yahaba didn’t need those. Not in a million years.

He didn’t know how he had missed the futon laid out on the floor in the first sweep of the room, but when he did took notice, it was the only thing he saw. Without wasting a second longer, he dove for it and wrapped his whole body within the safety of his blanket, head included. He then planted his face into the pillow with a loud thump.

To Yahaba, this was _the_ perfect place to hide.

No one ever claimed that he didn’t suck at Hide and Seek back when he was a kid.

“The hell are you doing now?” Kyoutani asked, his voice gruff. He sounded more curious than he was angry. Maybe even fed up.

Yahaba, naturally, didn’t answer. Why would he? Not after what had happened in the bathroom.

There were some creaking sounds when Kyoutani moved. Yahaba took a wild guess that the boy was leaning over him from the side of the bed.

After some time had passed, Yahaba relented. His answer came muffled. “Nothing. Don’t talk to me!” He didn’t mean to raise his voice. He couldn’t take it back now.

“And why not?!”

“Because!”

“That’s fucking bullshit. You’re starting to piss me off!”

“Wait! Wha--!!”

In an instant, the world got brighter. There was nothing Yahaba could do to stop Kyoutani from yanking back the blanket covering his head. He would’ve screeched something unholy at least (he didn’t want to go down without a fight), but he didn’t think Kyoutani’s mother would appreciate that move. So instead, he just laid face down. Defeated.

Yahaba could feel Kyoutani crouching down next to him, perhaps to get a better look at him, maybe even make fun of him for his classy-as-fuck behaviour. Who, on this damned planet, went for the futon like their life depended on it like he did? Nobody. That’s who. One thing for certain, though, was that he didn’t want to give the blond the satisfaction of catching him red-faced, so he turned his head stubbornly in the other direction.

An unexpected tug at his right ear almost made Yahaba jump out of his skin. Fuck. He had forgotten how when he blushed, it went all the way to his ears. He hastily covered them with his hands, though it was clear that Kyoutani had already noticed them.

“Are you…running a fever?”

Yahaba froze. The worry he heard in the other’s voice threw him off. “Come again?”

That wasn’t the response he had anticipated from Kyoutani. Mock him? Sure. In fact, Yahaba would’ve done the same should their position be reversed. Try to take a commemorative picture for laughs? Plausible; though Yahaba would destroy the evidence along with the phone soon after. Concern? He didn’t sign up for this!

And if that wasn’t enough, Kyoutani had carefully _(carefully!!)_ pushed him on his back, brushed away his bangs and rested a hand to his forehead. Yahaba was honestly dumbfounded. Was he…was Kyoutani checking his temperature? Did he somehow believed that Yahaba had really gotten a fever?

Without even an affirmative from Yahaba to his question, Kyoutani continued. “Your face is kinda warm. A fever? Damn.” Then, looking genuinely upset, “Sorry.”

_Wait? Huh?!_

Yahaba was confused. There must’ve been a million questions running through his mind. One thought, though, stood out from the rest. It was still the same frown, the same creased forehead, the same knotted brows. What was different about Kyoutani was that slight pout! He didn’t know Kyoutani could make that kind of expression on his face. It was…cute. Different. Impossible.

…That is, impossible, if it wasn’t for him being pushed into the mud by Mimo earlier. If today had never happened, would he ever be able to see a concerned Mad Dog?

He felt his face grew warmer. Why?! Why was he so affected by this? Kyoutani shouldn’t have this much effect on him? And Yahaba really shouldn’t be thinking these things at all right now! Kyoutani was sitting by his side, being sincere in his apology. Kyoutani had thought that the non-existent fever was his fault. Yahaba shouldn’t be an asshole and straighten things out qu—

“…I should get some meds or something,” Kyoutani muttered when Yahaba didn’t respond. He soon stood up, hand retreating.

That action broke Yahaba from his thoughts. He almost protested at the disappearance of the comforting touch. Before Kyoutani could get away any further, Yahaba shot up to grab him by the arm, a litany of “No”s and denial spilled from his mouth.

"Wait! No, there’s no fever! I’m fine!”

He could see the scepticism in Kyoutani’s eyes. The other commented something about better being safe than sorry before Yahaba cut in again.

“Really, it’s true! It’s just one of those things!”

Kyoutani’s forehead furrowed. He repeated, “Things?”

“Yeah, you know…. Like, when you remembered something embarrassing about the past at random times…” Which was true. “Thanks for offering, but I’m okay.” Not true. Yahaba wanted to combust. He was really grasping now. Who would believe such crappy explanation?

Apparently, Kyoutani did. It felt like forever until he nodded, appeased, then climbed back into bed after killing the lights, while Yahaba settled back down in his futon.

The fact that the big lug had asked no more questions was a huge load off Yahaba’s back. In the dark, he worked at willing his face from turning even more into a tomato. He had no idea if he was successful at the attempt. It wasn’t as if Yahaba had a mirror to look at. Not that it matters anymore, with the lights off.

His eyes was about to flutter close when Kyoutani asked, “Hey, Yahaba?”

Yahaba tensed, fidgeted under his blanket. He had a bad feeling about this conversation. The dread that he had let go of earlier resurfaced with a vengeance. He was afraid of what Kyoutani would say; something he suspected would come up sooner or later. But just because he expected it, didn’t mean that he wanted to talk about it.

Nevertheless, he answered. “Yeah?”

“Tomorrow, after breakfast…Want to walk the dog with me?”

“Sure. Yes.” Yahaba’s shoulders sagged. His grip on his covers loosened and he flattened them back in place. He was glad that this wasn’t about his embarrassing, sorry ass. “That’d be nice. I want to.”

“Good. Okay. Yeah.”

“Uh-hmmm…” Yahaba mumbled, not bothering with full sentences anymore, sleepiness taking over his systems. Too much had happened today. He was dead tired. He wanted a break. He yawned, attempting sleep again.

Kyoutani, though, wasn’t finished yet.

“Hey, Yahaba?”

“What mooooooooore?” Yahaba whined.

Kyoutani answered with no reservation, asking Yahaba about a certain something as if Yahaba would willingly provide an answer, not realising at all that it was a touchy subject for the setter that night.

That night, a loud “Ow!” echoed within the room when a pillow whizzed through the air at Mach speed. Yahaba made a satisfied noise. He hoped that the pillow had hit its intended target, namely Kyoutani’s nose. He deserved it.

After all, why would Kyoutani get away with asking him, quoting, “What was up with that rubber ducky boxers of yours that I put in the washing machine earlier?”, unquote.

* * *

That morning, at 6 o’clock sharp, distant beeping noises pushed through his dreams and brought Kyoutani back from dreamland. At first, he wanted nothing to do with it; he rolled over with a grunt, pillow over his head to drown out the annoyance. But the continuous shrill cries of his phone were persistent. After much debate with himself, he decided to turn off the snooze feature.

His right hand went automatically under his pillow, searching for the gadget he had put there every night out of habit. A few seconds of blind fumbling proved to be useless. His phone wasn’t where it was supposed to be and the shitty beeps were starting to grate on his nerves.

Grudgingly, he opened his eyes, his vision blurred with sleep. It took a while of reorienting himself, but he came to realise that with the hard floor against his back, he was no longer in his own bed. Rather, he was in Yahaba’s futon and yet, the boy was nowhere to be found.

_No wonder the beeping had sounded so far away…_

He sat up with a groan. Squinted at the wall in front of him, trying to focus and waited for his brain to finish booting itself up from sleep deprivation. Little by little, he noticed two things.

The first was the amount of pain he had woken up to. There was a pounding headache pulsing at his temple; no thanks to Yahaba who kept him up late, pestering him to forget that yesterday had ever happened. There was also the issue of his left cheek that had stung so badly. A painful twinge from his swollen cheek made Kyoutani wince. He had no memories of how or why that had happened. It was as if a truck had rammed into him overnight and he somehow slept through it.

That had brought him to his second concern. He had no recollection whatsoever of moving his sleeping place. Swivelling his head to the right, he found Yahaba sleeping on his bed, blissfully ignorant of his surroundings. What had Kyoutani surprised was that Yahaba was hugging his dog close. The both of them together took up the entire bed. Kyoutani glanced at his opened bedroom door. Really, when did all of this happen?

And when did Yahaba became so buddy-buddy with Mimo?

Kyoutani stopped himself. There was no use overthinking so early in the damn morning. All of this can wait until his stomach was filled with breakfast later. For now, he needed to shut his phone’s alarm that had now entered its third snooze cycle.

“Hey, move over.” The blond shoved Yahaba none too sympathetically so that he could reach for his phone. How Yahaba could sleep through all of that beeping so close to his ears was beyond Kyoutani.

_Later, later…_

As expected, Yahaba complained at the rude awakening. There were some shuffling movements. Yahaba didn’t even turn around to look at him. Then the setter spoke, irritated. “There’s no more space in your bed anymore. Sleep on the floor, you asshat!”

“I was trying to shut off the alarm,” Kyoutani said. He, too, was not a happy camper right now. It was way too early for any kind of fighting, and frankly, he wasn’t in the mood. Being civil was the key here if he wanted access to his dumb phone, so instead of another shove, he nudged Yahaba. “Come on. Move.”

A grunt from Yahaba before he moved a little more to the other side of the bed, nearer to the wall, and squishing Mimo in the process. Kyoutani didn’t waste his time doing what he said he would. When the phone was silenced, he fluffed his pillow and laid back in the futon.

Usually, he would be having a quick shower and be ready for Mimo’s daily walk by now, but since last night was something that had happened, he wanted to regain his lost sleeping time. The problem was, he was more awake than asleep at this point.

He still wasn’t up for anything though, so he kept himself busy by wondering how he had come to be in his current situation. Unfortunately, the only way of knowing for sure was by interrogating grouchy Yahaba.

Was it worth it? Of course. If Yahaba got to mess with his sleep schedule, he should get a free pass too.

“Oh my god, Kyoutani,” whined Yahaba when his name was called. “Go to sleep! It’s so early on Sunday morning!”

Kyoutani forged on, ignoring Yahaba’s protests. “Yeah, but…what happened?”

“What _what_ happened?”

“Uh…Last night?” he prompted back.

“Oh. That.” Yahaba spat. With how much venom there was in Yahaba’s words, Kyoutani made a mental note, listing all of those whom he could include in his will. Then, as if it was never there in the first place, the acerbic tone was dropped in exchange for a matter-of-fact one, “You fell on top of me while sleeping and wouldn’t budge when I tried to wake you up numerous times.”

"I did?”

“Yeah, your fat butt did! So I punched you out of the way and stole your bed.”

There was a few seconds of pause. Kyoutani waited for more explanation but Yahaba wasn’t exactly forthcoming with more information. _That’s it?_

Kyoutani rubbed at his sore cheek, careful to not apply too much pressure on the swelling. “That wasn’t really necessary.”

“It was.”

“Was not.”

“It was,” Yahaba said with a tone of finality. He then sighed, adjusted his position and poked his head over the side of bed to look at Kyoutani below. “Okay. Not. Sorry.”

Kyoutani blinked. The apology blindsided him. He had expected that the conversation would end with Yahaba having the last word and that they would both try to get some shut eye, but that didn’t happen. The argument ended there.

He wanted to say more, but before he could, Yahaba had pressed his old stuffed penguin lightly to his left cheek.

Then, in the most adorable voice Kyoutani had ever heard, and most likely never will again, Yahaba voiced the penguin, “Chu chu. Kisses for the ouchies!~”

That…had him so stupefied, Kyoutani swore his mouth was agape for a while, jaw locked in position. _What had just…?_

“…What…was that?”

"Kisses for the ouchies. Weren’t you listening?” repeated Yahaba, dumping the penguin on Kyoutani’s face. It was put aside by Kyoutani next to his face, who was still speechless, still overwhelmed. Looking at Kyoutani’s dumbstruck face, he said, “What? You looked like you want _me_ to be the one to kiss your cheek or something. Gross.”

While Kyoutani’s brain said that he wouldn’t mind, maybe, Kyoutani himself said no, that’d be hella fucking weird.

Yahaba laughed. “Come on. Pengi-chan said that to make you feel better! The least you could do is thank it, you ungrateful dog.” Yahaba disappeared from Kyoutani’s line of vision to go back to sleep. There were some creaking sounds as he did so.

“…Its name is Penpen-kun…”

All of a sudden, Yahaba’s head popped over the side of the bed again. Kyoutani almost had a heart attack because he had said that under his breath. He didn’t think Yahaba would have heard it at all. Yet, he did, and Kyoutani became self-conscious under Yahaba’s scrutiny.

Even when it’s still dark out, Kyoutani could see how Yahaba’s eyes seemed to sparkle in interest. “Holy shit, it actually has a name and you named him Penpen-kun?”

Damn it! Yahaba’s going to make fun of him again, wasn’t he? Like yesterday when he learned of Mimo’s name. Already, Kyoutani put on his defences. Despite that, it was useless. He could still feel his face heating up and he didn’t like that. It was even worse when Yahaba was present.

“W-what’s wrong with that?!” _Urgh!_ He stuttered! A weakness! Yahaba had leaned forward a little. Kyoutani squirmed under his stare, uncomfortable.

“Absolutely nothing! ” chirped Yahaba, his tone mischievous. His smile suspicious. Then he disappeared from sight again.

Kyoutani gulped. He had never felt more unnerved in his life.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Aaaaaand...done! I've poured my heart and soul into this gift. I swear I've never even edit my other works as much as I had this. And this is the longest I've written in a while. I'm pretty proud of how it turned out! ^_^ 
> 
> I hope I got their characterization okay. I've never written them before. Also, this was supposed to be a get together fic, but I didn't have enough time. What do you guys think? Should I continue? I still haven't worked out the plot though.


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